Neon Camera Reviews

Our 5 favourite movies of 2021  By Calum Whitfield and Emily Hubbard  It’s nearly the end of 2021, so to celebrate, here is a list of each of our top five favourite films of the year. Remember, we haven’t seen everything so there will be some glaring omissions (Calum’s particularly annoyed with himself for not watching Last Night in Soho before this, and Emily is incredibly sad she hasn’t yet seen the 2021 remake of West Side Story) and we’re not trying to say these are objectively the best films of the year, just the ones we looked back on and felt we enjoyed the most! Let us know what you think we missed! No Copyright Infringement Intended  Calum Godzilla vs Kong   What can I say? I’m a sucker for silly films about giant monsters fighting each other, and rarely do they come this giant or this silly. Sure, the story doesn’t make much sense and the human characters are kept pretty two-dimensional but Godzilla vs Kong is pure silly fun and exceeds itself in this dep...

Encanto By Emily Hubbard Disney rounds off 2021 with a vibrant musical that’s ended up being one of their best releases of recent years. 4/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥 Directed by: Jared Bush, Byron Howard, and Charise Castro Smith  Starring: Stephanie Beatriz, John Leguizamo, Jessica Darrow, et al  Where to find it: Disney +  No Copyright Infringement Intended  2021 has been a packed year for Disney. Throughout the year the media giant has released an onslaught on TV shows and movies to make up for 2020’s unexpected draught. Titles such as Free Guy and WandaVision proved to be surprise hits, whereas others, such as The Last Duel, underperformed. In a nice end-of-year treat, however, Disney saved one of their best releases of 2021 until last, with the charming animated musical Encanto. Set in the hidden mountains of Colombia, Encanto tells the story of The Madrigal's, a family living in a magical place called an Encanto. Throughout the generations, the Encanto has blessed ev...

The Holiday By Emily Hubbard  An underrated classic packed full of festive charm, warmth, and beautiful homes  3.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥.5 Directed by: Nancy Meyers  Starring: Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, and Jack Black  Where to find it: Netflix  No Copyright Infringement Intended  When you think of Christmas films, and in particular Christmas romantic-comedies, your mind probably jumps straight to the infamous Love Actually, and although the 2004 film is undoubtedly a classic, there is another holiday rom-com that gets severely overlooked and is in my eyes far superior; 2006’s The Holiday. The Holiday is set in both sunny California and snowy England, two very different locations to spend Christmas, and focuses on two love-torn women from opposite sides of the Atlantic, Iris, and Amanda, played by Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz respectively. Recently heartbroken, the two women undertake a very early 2000s style house swap to escape during the festive...

Sonic the Hedgehog By Emily Hubbard  Sonic comes to the big screen in a film that’s fun for all the family, despite being devoid of any logic. 3/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥 Directed by: Jeff Fowler  Starring: Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, and Jim Carrey  Where to find it: Netflix  No Copyright Infringement Intended  Sonic the Hedgehog is a household name, there’s no doubt about that. Since the now-beloved blue speedster first appeared in his own SEGA game in 1991, he’s become a character almost synonymous with the term ‘video game’, but will his long-awaited live-action (sort of) cinematic debut be worth the wait? Sonic the Hedgehog’s first silver screen adventure follows the titular blue extra-terrestrial (voiced by Ben Schwartz) as he finds himself on Earth after his homeworld becomes unsafe. Alone on Earth, Sonic has spent years hiding from humanity and concealing his abilities, but when an incident leads to him almost being discovered, Sonic must team up with local sh...

Spider-Man: No Way Home By Calum Whitfield  Undoubtedly entertaining and emotionally satisfying for fans, but in favouring fan service over internal logic and a good story loses out as being a truly great film. 3.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥.5 Directed by: Jon Watts  Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Benedict Cumberbatch, et al Where to find it: In cinemas now No Copyright Infringement Intended  Rarely does a film generate the buzz and rumourmongering this one has. Naturally, all this talk has paved the way to sky-high expectations for many of us, expectations it would be near impossible to fully satisfy with the return of several classic villains from Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man trilogy as well as those from Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man films, as well as endless rumours regarding the possibility of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning in some capacity. Spider-Man: No Way Home certainly has the hype, but does it have the quality? No Way Home picks up exa...

True Lies By Calum Whitfield  Exciting action, endearing romance, and fun comedy successfully merged in this classic piece of 90s excess. 4/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥 Directed by: James Cameron  Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Bill Paxtonn, et al  Where to find it: Sky Store No Copyright Infringement Intended  James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger will forever be associated with each other due to their work on the first two Terminator movies, which are widely acclaimed. Outside of the Terminator universe though, Cameron and Schwarzenegger teamed up for another movie, 90’s action-comedy True Lies. The film concerns Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a James Bond-style globetrotting, terrorist shooting superspy. It picks up with him and his team on a mission in Switzerland where Harry charms, tangos, and shoots his way through the first of several fun set pieces. Once he returns home we’re introduced to Jamie Lee Curtis as Helen Tasker, H...

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse  By Emily Hubbard  A new version of the beloved web-slinger leads to the best Spider-Man film ever made. 5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥🎥   Directed by:  Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman  Starring: Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Kathryn Hahn, et al  Where to find it: Film 4 - 19th December - 6:45pm GMT  No Copyright Infringement Intended  When you think of Spider-Man, you also probably think of Peter Parker. The world-famous web-slinger’s human name is equally as famous as his superhero one, with this iteration of the character being the focus of countless films and TV shows, both live-action and animated. Fans of the comics, however, will be aware that a new version of Spider-Man, Miles Morales, was introduced to the Marvel Universe in 2011. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse sees Miles make his long-overdue film debut, in a piece of cinema that I believe to be the best Spider-Man film ever ...

Stardust By Calum Whitfield  Stardust’s excellent worldbuilding and large cast of quirky characters results in a near-perfect and easily accessible fantasy adventure that deserves revisiting. 4.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥🎥.5 Directed by: Matthew Vaughn Starring: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mark Strong, Robert De Niro, et al Where to find it: Rent it on Amazon Prime No Copyright Infringement Intended  Stardust was a bit of a flop when it came out in 2007, making a little over its production budget but not the kind of numbers it hoped for. Based on a book by Neil Gaiman, the film was directed and co-written (with Jane Goldman) by Matthew Vaughn who at the time was most well known for having produced violent crime films such as “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch”, so having him direct a family-friendly fantasy adventure would seem a little strange, but in spite of this, almost 15 years on, Stardust has built up a strong positive following, and after I rec...